Fruhbeck de Burgos kept the piece moving, barely pausing between movements. He conducted without a score and Orfeon Pamplones (the chorus) sang from memory. That was impressive. Carmina burana is a long, complex work in medieval German and Latin, with complex harmonies. The choir brought out the rhythms of the words, especially in the "In Taberna" section. I know that the aria "Olim lacus colueram" (the roasting swan) is meant to be funny, but I'd never thought of playing it for laughs. Tenor Nicholas Phan sang of his former life on the lakes with passion, then fanned his face as the men of the choir sang "Now I am roasted black!" After the second verse he tugged at his collar, and at the end of the aria he sat down with a thud, seemingly demoralized. Soprano Emalie Savoy brought out every ounce of Puccini-esque love in "In Trutina" and effortlessly hit the high notes in "Dulcissime." Baritone Jacques Imbrailo was confident in the solo parts of "In Taberna" and I enjoyed his interplay with the choir in those songs. The entire performance lasted barely an hour, but I could have listened to them sing the entire oratorio again. Even the teenagers and pre-teens in the audience, presumably there to see their friends in the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, were on their feet at the end of the work.
The first half of the concert was excerpts from Manuel de Falla's Atlantida, a cantata that he left unfinished at his death and was later completed by Ernesto Hallfter. It was not like anything of de Falla's music that I've heard before. I enjoyed it, especially the challenging harmonies and the excellent work of the chorus. But if these are just the excerpts, I'm not sure the world is ready for the full cantata (which apparently clocks in at around four hours). I was fine with the 25 minutes of music that we heard tonight.
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